Chapter 93
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Upon hearing this sentence, Jiang Yanchi’s eyes showed a strange expression, remaining silent for a long time.
Suddenly, a creaking sound, and the half-open crimson door were pushed open.
Jiang Yanchi saw the hem of the physician’s robe stained with blood, exceptionally quiet. He lifted his hand as if wanting to stop someone, but as he moved his throat, he couldn’t speak.
Little Xizi stepped forward first, “How is Niang Niang?”
The old imperial physician glanced at the emperor’s expression and hesitated to speak. Jiang Yanchi immediately had a bad premonition. Sure enough, the imperial physician waited for a few more behind him, all renowned experts in the Imperial Hospital. Several white-haired imperial physicians exchanged glances, and the one in front stepped forward and said in a deep voice, “Your Majesty… The empress has been suffering from a chronic illness for a long time. Since the last severe punishment in the Zhao Prison, the deep-rooted ailment has penetrated the bones. This time, with the additional serious injury, we have done our best. We have prepared some medicinal soup, but he can’t swallow it. I’m afraid this time…”
Little Xizi’s face changed immediately, and he immediately looked at the emperor.
Indeed, he saw the emperor’s eyelashes tremble. As if he had been silent for a long time and couldn’t voice his questions, after a while, he grabbed the sleeve of the imperial physician and asked, “What does this mean?”
Turning his head, he caught Little Xizi again, pointing outside, “Quick, go and find the doctor from the Chu Mansion…”
Little Xizi suddenly remembered and hurriedly ran outside. He almost stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Your Majesty, do you want to go in… and take another look…”
“What are you saying?”
Jiang Yanchi’s eyes were like knives, staring at the imperial physician as if he wanted to tear a piece of bloody flesh from his face. “If you speak nonsense again and it reaches the empress’s ears, I will take your heads.”
“Your Highness, you… you need to—”
The young imperial physician behind couldn’t help but speak, but after being pulled by the sleeve, he fell silent again.
However, Jiang Yanchi’s ears were sharp.
He immediately drew his sword from his waist and placed it on the shoulder of the young imperial physician. Everyone in front of him knelt on the ground, “Your Majesty!”
“If anything happens to him, none of you… will survive.”
The imperial physicians were scared pale, all kowtowing on the ground.
“Your Majesty.” Zhou Wen, who came in from outside in a hurry, seemed to have something urgent to report and said anxiously, “There seems to be some movement in the Su Mansion. Grand Tutor Su seems to—”
“Stop talking.” Jiang Yanchi raised his hand. “I don’t want to hear anything about Su Mingan.”
“But Your Majesty—”
“I said stop!”
Zhou Wen looked at the kneeling imperial physicians and the palace maids who looked mournful. He faintly sensed something and looked into the room, “How is the empress?”
Not one of the imperial physicians dared to speak.
Zhou Wen seemed to have some realization, then saw Little Xizi anxiously bringing in an outside doctor.
It was indeed the same Doctor Zhu who had been in the Chu Xie Mansion before.
Jiang Yanchi saw him and grasped his hand as if holding onto the last straw. “Hurry, quickly check on him…” After saying this, he instructed Little Xizi to lead the doctor inside.
Meanwhile, he hesitated at the threshold for a long time. Hearing some commotion inside, he also heard Little Xizi ask, “How is he?”
Only then did he take a step inside.
The room was much darker than outside, with a hot charcoal brazier placed in each corner, providing warmth.
Lifting the bead curtain inside, he approached the bedside.
What met his eyes was a face ashen and devoid of any color.
That once beautiful face, those dazzling features.
Now, it lacked any signs of life.
He could hardly hear Chu Xie’s breath.
Doctor Zhu inserted a few needles into Chu Xie’s hand, pressed on his head several times, helped him up, examined the bruise on his back, and then untied the thin clothes to inspect the whip marks on his body.
His brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Little Xizi looked at Doctor Zhu and sneakily glanced at Jiang Yanchi’s expression. The room fell silent, and he had to ask again, “Doctor Zhu, how is the empress? Do you have a way…”
Before he could finish speaking, Doctor Zhu silently put away the needle bag.
He shook his head.
The color drained from the emperor’s face, and he suddenly felt unsteady on his feet.
Doctor Zhu sighed as he stroked his beard, his expression filled with sorrow. “The Lord… was already a person of frail health, and over the past year, he has suffered two severe punishments. The shocks to his internal organs from the beatings have damaged his lungs and vital energy, causing harm to all his organs. This time, it’s a major event, and there is no other way.”
“Is there really no other way? We can find rare herbs from all over the world. Please, think of another solution…” Little Xizi and Doctor Zhu gently placed Chu Xie back on the bed and covered him with a blanket. Although the room was warm, Chu Xie’s body felt as cold as a corpse.
“No…,”
Jiang Yanchi staggered forward as if in a daze, squatting by the bedside. He covered his icy hand. “He… he was just standing on the city wall a moment ago. He… he spoke to me, and he was still so domineering…”
“No, he’s Chu Xie. How could he be dead… He, with such abilities, how…”
How could he not even protect his own life?
Trembling, he held onto his hand, gently caressing each knuckle.
So thin.
Yes, he had always been so frail.
This person, from the beginning, never intended to live.
After taking Duan Se hostage and narrowly sending Xu Chunmu out of the city, he stayed behind to delay Su and Zhao. When planning all of this, he had already prepared himself for death.
“He hasn’t even reached full maturity yet, he’s still so young. How could he die—Doctor Zhu, save him, please save him…”
“In the capital city, it has always been a place where people devour each other. Sir has spent half his life in this place, and his vitality has long been drained… Your Majesty, there’s no need to hold on so tightly. Even without this incident, Sir might not have lived for many more years. Moreover, he was never concerned about how long he could live…”
“But I care!”
Jiang Yanchi pressed the back of his hand against his own face, a drop of water at the corner of his eye following the hand and disappearing into the snowy sleeve. “Chu Xie, Chu Xie…”
Leading Doctor Zhu out, Little Xizi stood in the corridor and asked, “Is it really true that there is no way at all?” But all he got in return was a firm shake of the head. “The Shen family has been kind to my Zhu family. I’ve saved his life for over twenty years. If there were any other way, how could I stand by? This time, it’s truly impossible.”
“Last time, I remember it wasn’t very effective. The imperial physicians were helpless, but you saved him with a medicinal bath…”
“That time was a desperate measure. Now, nothing can save him.” Doctor Zhu spoke, and there was a hint of sadness in his tone.
Too short.
This person’s life.
The Shen family’s bloodline was destined to be severed.
Inside the room, the emperor seemed to recall something. He picked up the still-warm herbal medicine beside him, supported Chu Xie, and slowly fed the medicine into his mouth.
But the medicine, once in the mouth, overflowed from the corners, unable to be ingested.
Jiang Yanchi’s eyes turned red. He pinched Chu Xie’s jaw, painstakingly pouring the medicine in bit by bit.
“Chu Xie, you are my empress, you are… the empress I married through the ceremonies. Everything will be fine. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Drink it, please drink it…”
After feeding more than half the bowl, only the clothes were damp.
Despair filled Jiang Yanchi’s eyes.
“You, you like Xu Chunmu right.”
He sniffled, suddenly pulling a grotesque smile at the corner of his mouth. “You live, survive… I’ll let you go. Really.”
“This time, I really… really will let you go…”
“You don’t like me, that’s okay. You can be with whoever you want… okay.”
The person in his arms remained motionless, not even a flicker of the eyelids.
Like a truly dead person.
Jiang Yanchi suddenly smashed the medicine bowl in his hand, and the shattered porcelain shot in all directions, making a harsh sound.
“Chu Xie, Chu Xie!”
His crimson eyes stared fixedly at the person, but his actions were as gentle as cradling melting snowflakes, carefully laying him flat and then leaning over to smooth out the wrinkles on his collar.
He gently held his cheek, brushing a stray strand of messy hair behind his ear.
“I didn’t let you die. You’re not allowed to die…”
Jiang Yanchi’s nose touched his, so close yet only sensing his increasingly weak breath. It felt as if a gaping hole had been torn open in his heart, and the howling cold wind passed through, carrying away the last remaining warmth.
Drip, drip.
A few tears fell on the delicate, jade-like cheek.
“Please, I beg you.”
In the corner, the charcoal brazier crackled, a corner collapsing, dust obscuring a once fiery glow as the flames dwindled.
***
“Host, host.”
In the darkness, the voice of the system came, “The mission has been completed, and in an hour, this body will completely lose its breath. We can leave now.”
“Mm.”
Chu Xie could faintly hear Jiang Yanchi’s choked calls.
He was calling “Ah Xie” or “Ah Xie.”
That voice gradually faded away, ultimately dissipating completely into the silent darkness.
When he could no longer hear it, Chu Xie felt as if something that had been entwined around his heart had suddenly loosened. When that voice lingered in his ears, the thread tightened and slackened, constantly tugging at his heartstrings.
Now that he couldn’t hear it anymore, it was a relief.
Chu Xie turned to look back into the darkness behind him and suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He had come all the way from a border peddler, entered Great Wei, and climbed step by step to the pinnacle of power.
Then, he supported the thirteen-year-old Second Prince to the position in the East Palace, beginning from glory and moving towards decline.
He was truly ruthless at times, and in his prime, he was indeed splendid.
In the end, the plot completely deviated, and he became the empress of that little emperor.
Jiang Yanchi, this child, actually, didn’t really owe him anything.
Chu Xie’s tragic fate was the irreversible destiny of being born into the Shen family. It had nothing to do with anyone else. However, would Jiang Yanchi think that he had caused his death?
He should have rightfully ascended to the throne, should have received support in Xu Yi, and with the assistance of Zhao Xuan and Qi Sui, become a wise ruler, sweeping away the decay and dilapidation of Great Wei over the past twenty years after the war, creating a peaceful and prosperous era.
Chu Xie couldn’t imagine Jiang Yanchi in that way.
Perhaps because he had only seen his childhood and adolescence.
Chu Xie died in the year Jiang Yanchi turned eighteen.
So, he could only see this boy’s youthful and spirited appearance.
Although he was a youth, he had cried so many times in front of him. Can’t he have a little self-respect?
Forget it.
He would grow up eventually.
Jiang Yanchi was an emperor. In his later life, he would have a smooth and bright path. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, who hasn’t been infatuated once or twice?
Time would gradually fade everything away.
In this illusory dream, a dream spanning over a dozen years passed in an instant.
It was time to wake up.
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
